GC
Well-known member
My son and I were able to get to the range yesterday. Due to the recent heavy snow and extreme cold, and some busy schedules, we haven't been to the range in 5-6 weeks. I felt dull and rusty and began the session with the Dot Torture Drill. I used my daily carry gun, a Sig 365 XMacro Comp. My son used his Shadow Systems subcompact. We shot from the holster.
Dot Torture went well, though I shot my first round just below the first dot because I forgot the mechanical offset of the red dot. I corrected after that and shot my target clean. My son had three outs, two from weak hand. This points out the need for some weak-side shooting practice. Since we didn't have any big issues here, we moved on to another drill.
We shot the Wilson 5x5 drill three times. My times were all in the Master Class, and so were my sons. We had the rust knocked off by now.
We saved our favorite drill for last. The Casino Drill is a blast. I actually shot my fastest time for using my little Sig on my first run, a 14.68. I can occasionally do better with a larger platform handgun, but I was very happy with the times I shot with my actual compact carry gun. I shot the drill three times and only had one narrow miss total. My son shot about the same, though after three times shooting the drill, he had four rounds outside the lines. Those misses are a one-second penalty. He likes to hit the gas pedal and sometimes gets a bit sloppy.
If you keep a handgun for defensive use, I would encourage you to buy a shot timer and begin shooting some skill drills. There are several different shot timers. I use a PACT model. A couple of young guys were banging away at a silhouette target down the line from us. I realized at some point they were watching us, and I invited them to shoot a drill with us. I posted a new Casino target, gave them some instructions, and ran them through the drill. It wasn't pretty, and afterward one of them remarked, "I thought I was pretty good... until now." Shooting established drills with a shot timer gives you a metric to grade your performance. This allows you to see your weaknesses and work toward improvement. And it is a way to measure that improvement. It is fun, doesn't cost much, and could very well save your life or a loved one's.
Dot Torture went well, though I shot my first round just below the first dot because I forgot the mechanical offset of the red dot. I corrected after that and shot my target clean. My son had three outs, two from weak hand. This points out the need for some weak-side shooting practice. Since we didn't have any big issues here, we moved on to another drill.
We shot the Wilson 5x5 drill three times. My times were all in the Master Class, and so were my sons. We had the rust knocked off by now.
We saved our favorite drill for last. The Casino Drill is a blast. I actually shot my fastest time for using my little Sig on my first run, a 14.68. I can occasionally do better with a larger platform handgun, but I was very happy with the times I shot with my actual compact carry gun. I shot the drill three times and only had one narrow miss total. My son shot about the same, though after three times shooting the drill, he had four rounds outside the lines. Those misses are a one-second penalty. He likes to hit the gas pedal and sometimes gets a bit sloppy.
If you keep a handgun for defensive use, I would encourage you to buy a shot timer and begin shooting some skill drills. There are several different shot timers. I use a PACT model. A couple of young guys were banging away at a silhouette target down the line from us. I realized at some point they were watching us, and I invited them to shoot a drill with us. I posted a new Casino target, gave them some instructions, and ran them through the drill. It wasn't pretty, and afterward one of them remarked, "I thought I was pretty good... until now." Shooting established drills with a shot timer gives you a metric to grade your performance. This allows you to see your weaknesses and work toward improvement. And it is a way to measure that improvement. It is fun, doesn't cost much, and could very well save your life or a loved one's.
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